Crossroads
by fiesa
Summary: Hunters' paths cross and diverge again. This is the way it could have been. OneShot.


**Crossroads**

_Summary: Hunters' paths cross and diverge again. This is the way it could have been. OneShot. _

_Warning: A Christmas present for **Snowlia**. Because reading her stories is as much fun as reading Svet's. I apologize for the un-Cass-ishness of the first part! And I hope you still like it._

_Set: Story-unrelated, alternate universe_

_Disclaimer: Standards apply. _

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* * *

_

It's a warm summer night. They are high from the adrenaline and the excitement of hunting and fighting successfully and none of them really cares about the world outside their own one.

The streets are lit blindingly. They don't have need for it because their Hunters' eyes are used to the darkness perfectly. But for once, they don't want to feel like Hunters. They want to be teenagers, normal, noisy, lazy teenagers with no worry on their mind except where to go and what to do on a warm, bright Saturday Night. Jay has sheathed his sword, Ten has hidden her battle axe, Terrance has pushed aside all thoughts of danger and alertness. And Rese, as their team leader, still is on autopilot when it comes to watchfulness. But she, too, feels the warm night air and the soft wind on her face. The voices around them are loud and noisy and they don't understand a word of the conversations going on. Like any other person this night they are content with talking to each other, focused on each other and on the fact that they can let go, stop being reliable and responsible Hunters and can be youth and nothing else. They resemble any group of teenagers: Ten is wearing shorts and a loose-fitting T-shirt and still manages to look fashionable. Terrance, his skin as dark as Ten's, is tall and broad-shouldered and his black eyes seem to be indefinitely deep. He is clad in a simple jeans and T-Shirt, as is Jay, whose red-gold hair already falls over his ears. His eyes sparkle mischievously. And Rese, finally, doesn't like the fact that she is so tall and skinny and rather would be a bit smaller and curvier. Like Ten. But now, strolling down the street, none of them thinks about appearance and reality. Truly, anyone who watches them wouldn't be able to tell them apart from normal, mundane humans.

Only their conversation is different, but what does that matter?

"You seen how the vampire ran when we got the rippers?" Jay says and grins from ear to ear. "They play though, those nossies, but when they see a fight they can't disappear fast enough!"

"You did threaten to behead him," Ten answers and pretends to be serious. "Arrogant night things, one like the other. Dating everything that has a pulse." Her grin is contagious and her insults without spite.

"Stupid girl!" Rese snorts. "Writing letters and burying them on a Graveyard. And even going there when someone answers them! She could have been eaten alive by demons, ripped apart by werewolves or…"

"Yeah, we agree it was a stupid idea to go there in the first place," Terrance interrupts her while his eyes travel down the road. "But we were there on time and the rippers will burn when the sun comes up. You see, everything is fine, including the girl. The newbie is safe in the Sanctuary and the vamp wasn't even reduced to dust."

"Huh!" Jay snorts. "Not his credit. Not interfering when the newcomer came at his girl for the first time was his first mistake."

"His _second_ mistake, you mean," Ten giggles and stops in front of a shop for antique weapons to press her nose against the shop window. The lit display shows old swords, shields and daggers. "Look at that. Don't tell me humans still believe those were used by so-called knights who only fought each other."

"They'll believe anything as long as it doesn't involve night things, you know that," Jay reminds her. "And, by the way, what was his first mistake?"

Ten throws Rese a taunting look. "His first mistake was to let her insult our leader."

Terrance gives a short bark. "Yeah. We should've warned her."

"I still don't know why Teacher made you our leader," Jay teases. "She must have been out of her mind."

"Leave Anathea out of this!" Rese mutters and rolls her shoulders with a look of annoyance on her face. Only her best friends and team mates can hear the silent clanking that speaks of the daggers hidden in her long, loose sleeves. "Stupid human. How could she even _try_ to talk to a newbie? Especially when _knowing_ what it was. I almost lost my daggers when getting her out of there!"

"You didn't have to _throw_ her across the graveyard." Ten shrugs "But then, she didn't really deserve something else."

"Stupidity has to hurt sometimes," Jay says and grins while continuing to walk down the street. The others follow. The street around them is full of people. This city of theirs never sleeps and they feel at home here. They, too, are creatures of the night. "Otherwise they never would learn something from their mistakes."

"The question is: Do _they_ learn from their mistakes?" Ten shoves her elbow at her best friend playfully as they follow Jay and Terrance down the road. Rese smiles. She is pretty when she smiles. "If you want to hint at the fact that _we_ don't learn, either…"

"So you do understand humor!" Jay whirls around and hits her on the shoulder. "I always thought you were a stone when it came to jokes and fun!"

Instead of being insulted, Rese shrugs. "Jay, we've known each other for fifteen years. Please don't tell me I just managed to surprise you?"

Terrance laughs out loud."Ah, Rese, the night air must have messed with your head! Who are you and what have you done to our short-tempered, un-humorous Rese?"

"Don't make me lose my good mood."

"Hey, guys!" Ten calls, a few meters in front of them. "You want some food? I'm starving!"

"Food is good," Jay replies, speeding up. "I could eat a wolf, too, a whole pack of wolves!"

"So, for the sake of the treaty," Rese and Terrance follow them, exchanging amused looks. "Let's find a Diner that still has opened at this time and have something for dinner."

* * *

They're not at home in this city. They can feel the difference, see the strangeness. They don't belong here – they'd say this place wasn't their territory. The night air is strangely warm in their faces and on their bare arms. It is warm but comfortable. The strangeness feels good.

They don't have an aim right now. They're enjoying their free-time, reveling in the fact that nobody is telling them what to do and where to go. Tomorrow, they are going to be home again, in their own territory. But they try not to think about it because they are _here_ now and they want to see where they have come to, what this strange place has that makes it different from home. Each one of them is excited and everyone shows it, more or less. They could be normal teenagers, strolling down a road late in the evening. Talking, laughing, having fun. Nobody would notice the difference, no one except some of their own. And they don't want to be noticed, either. Though, to be honest, their group is as strange as it can be: Mar is wearing her usual, torn tights and a short jeans skirt and her entire outfit is black. Jaq always is striking, even in his normal sweatshirt and jeans, because his long, white-blond hair shines in the lights of the street-lamps and his pale features catch glances from both men and women. Nadia is tall and her red hair is a shocking contrast to Jaq's white one. In her tightly-fitting jeans and her dark-blue top she could have escaped from the pages of a fashion magazine. And Cassidy, finally, with his freckled skin, his hair as read as Nadia's, and his bottle-green eyes, is used to people asking him if he and Nadia are siblings. As used as he is of girls staring after him and giggling madly. Unconsciously, he feels for the carved wood in his pockets. Because they are Hunters, they haven't left the hotel unarmed. But while Jaq never goes anywhere unarmed because he fights with his hands and Cass has left his sharp, long stakes at home, he still carries an assortment of short ones with him. Nadia is a short-range fighter as well, so she only has brought her small flail but it is hidden invisibly _somewhere_. And Mar isn't in need of _visible_ weapons, after all.

The sky is a deep blue color and _darkness_ isn't the word to describe the semi-light around them right now. There are no stars above them, no moon is visible. It's something they're not used to but they don't think of it right now.

"Cassidy, wait up!"

Mar is the only one that calls him by his full name. Cass slows down, walking more slowly to let the younger girl catch up. She almost runs, Nadia in her wake. Jaq, in front of him, stops as well.

"Have you seen that bookstore? They must have about a million books in there!"

Her face is gleaming with excitement. She's still almost a child, sixteen years old, and she has grown up differently than them. None can blame her for not knowing there are much bigger book-stores in the world than the small one they know.

"Oh, I wish it was day, I'd love to go inside!"

"Tomorrow is Sunday, it probably won't be open," Nadia says and looks as depressed as Marina. "I'd like to go there, too. Why didn't we do this earlier?"

"We're only supposed to stay for two days to be introduced to the Elders," Jaq explains calmly as they reach him and stop. "Tomorrow, at this time, we'll be home again."

"We weren't able to see _anything!"_ Mar sighs. Her hung head makes Cass want to cheer her up immediately.

"We'll come back, Mar. And then you can spend a whole week in there." He nods at the shop window with the books on display. Her face lights up.

"Really?"

"I'm pretty sure."

Satisfied, she presses her hands and face against the window and scrutinizes the books. Jaq and Nadia exchange glances.

"You know what it means when we come back next time," she tells him quietly so Mar can't hear anything. Cass nods. There is a short silence because none of them wants to think about the Scoring in which they'll be forced to participate next year.

"Daemon said Mar won't need to take part," Jaq says. Nadia closes her eyes tightly. "I hope he is right."

"Nadia, Nadia! Look!" Mar waves her over and immediately, Nadia's features lose their tense expression and become soft again. "You remember the book we read last month? There's a second volume!"

"God, now we'll be forced to listen to her beg and cry until Teacher orders it for her!" Jaq says, his face entirely straight. Only his friends are able to see the smile underneath.

"Yeah, and you'll tell us about what is happening every day, Mar, so we couldn't read the book even if we wanted to!" Cass teases her. Mar blushes.

"I don't do that!"

"Yes, you do. I think I can summarize about fifty books I haven't ever read but still know the entire plot."

Nadia laughs. "Hey, leave her. Since she can read books now, we should let her, shouldn't we?"

Slowly, she continues on, and her team members – her family – follow. They take in the splendor and the lights of the city with every fiber of their being.

"There's a guy with neon-pink hair and a girl in what looks like a wedding dress," Jaq mumbles. "Only it's _black. _Cities are strange."

"Yeah, remember those weirn we met yesterday?" Nadia asks. "The four girls and the demon. They looked like the ones we fought a year ago, the ones that got into the huge mess with that Eron guy and his consorts, the fallen Nereshai, remember? But they didn't seem to remember us. Strange, I could have sworn it was them, the one with the Neren Curse, the Leiburne sisters and her faithful friends."

"Yeah, right. I've almost forgotten them over the Council. They did look like them, didn't they? Maybe they just ignored us, the same way we ignored them?"

"They had every reason," Jaq says and kicks aside a ball of waste, his hands in his pockets. "We kind of made them call back those Sohrem and gave them a lot of trouble."

"They were the ones who were chosen by the Sohrem as vessels in the first place. We don't need to blame ourselves." Nadia's voice is very quiet. It's an old argument. "We don't have to bring up all that stuff again, do we?"

"Hey, you started it!" Mar accuses her, but she smiles. Since she was the one who was most involved into the fights and she is the one who is now most detached from it, they leave it be. Cass checks his watch.

"We still have time. You want to have something for after-dinner-snack or should we just stroll down the streets a bit more?"

"I'm not hungry," Nadia says. "The hotel dinner was quite… _Rich._" She grins. Cass chuckles and looks at the others. "What about you?"

Jaq shakes his head. Mar looks down the road vaguely. "I'd like to have something quick and small… Maybe a Hotdog?"

"Look, you can have some over there," Nadia points at a little stall at the side of the street. A few people are clustered around it. Happily, Mar skips over to the stall and starts inspecting the short menu. Nadia and Jaq follow her while Cass takes out the little writing pad Teacher has given him tonight. The first page is blank. Nothing has happened; there is no need for them to speed back to the hotel and to leave this city immediately. Relieved, he starts to follow his Clave members to the Hotdog stand.

* * *

This is when he sees her.

She trails behind a group of three, exactly as he does.

Her dark hair falls in waves onto her shoulders, her skin is dark as well but not as dark as the skin of two of her friends. (At least they seem to be her friends, because she undoubtedly belongs with them and they seem to be chatting animatedly while walking towards a brightly lit Diner.) It has the color of café au lait. She is tall, almost as tall as he is, which makes her even taller than Nadia. He can't explain why it is the way it is, but his mind immediately registers her face, her hair and her movements. The way she walks. For his Hunter-trained mind, everything about her just screams "Hunter!" at him. She's wearing a shirt with long, lose sleeves and probably has hidden some weapons underneath them. The material fits her body tightly and yet loosely at the same time.

Her head jerks around suddenly. She seems to have felt him staring at her, because her chocolate-brown eyes immediately bury themselves into his. Her features are angled and thin. Everything about her is familiar and yet strange. _Beautiful_ is not the word that comes to his mind – and yet. While unspoken thoughts cross his mind, the girl answers his stare with the same questions and emotions he feels bubbling up inside of him.

And Cass can't look away.

* * *

Someone is watching her.

Rese's reflexes make her whirl around immediately though she tries to make it look inconspicuous. She knows she has to be careful – she is in the middle of a crowd of humans. But if there are night things attacking, it won't be a pretty sight anyway. And while her racing mind still takes in her surroundings, the people, the shadows – her eyes have already fixed themselves on the person staring at her.

It's a boy – or rather a man? – who is gazing at her intently, his bottle-green eyes reflecting the light of the Diner's neon advertisement. He looks like any other boy his age – jeans, a black T-shirt, a jeans jacket which doesn't seem to fit the warm summer heat – but she recognizes him immediately. The same way she _knew_ when Teacher brought her to first meet Terrance and when Ten and Jay joined them: This boy is a Hunter. Which means: the three guys behind him are Hunters, too. They _look_ like Hunters: well-trained, muscled, quick, except for the smaller, younger one. But she, undoubtedly, belongs to them as well and there's something in her aura that makes Rese stiffen. Still, _he_ has caught her attention, not the girl. It's a group like hers: two boys, two girls. A regular Clave. And the boy staring at her probably is their leader. But what are they doing here? The rational part of her brain tells her they probably have been summoned by the Council. It isn't unusual to meet other Claves in the city of the Council, she has met many others before. And yet – _this_ Hunter's gaze has caught her attention.

And he keeps it.

* * *

A few seconds pass and they stare at each other intently. Two leaders meeting on one's territory, knowing they are the same and yet different. Both feel the sudden rush of _something_ – maybe fate, maybe destiny, maybe simple _knowledge_ – pass through them. Suddenly it is there and then gone again and both feel like they have gained and lost something immeasurably precious.

* * *

Then, Nadia calls Cass over to pay Mar's Hotdog and Cass tries to turn away but is unable to do so. The girl is the first to break their eye contact. She whirls around in a graceful movement and follows her friends. He pays Marina's Hotdog and turns around one last time. But the crowd has shifted and he is unable to catch another sight of her.

* * *

Ten and Jay have already entered the Diner. Terrance is waiting at the door, she can feel it, and with an effort she shouldn't need she breaks the contact and whirls around to walk towards the Diner. When she looks back one last time at the door of the restaurant, the boy with the green eyes has disappeared in the crowd.


End file.
